National
India’s first water body census
- The Ministry of Jal Shakti released a report of the first-ever water body census It provides detailed information on water bodies in the country.
- It is a database of water bodies, which provides information about ponds, tanks, lakes and reservoirs in India.
- Conducted in 2018-19, the census is also the first time that such an exercise has been conducted in the country.
Civil union in Special Marriage Act
- A “civil union” refers to the legal status that allows same-sex couples specific rights and responsibilities normally conferred upon married couples.
- Although a civil union resembles a marriage and brings with it employment, inheritance, property, and parental rights, there are some differences between the two.
National Panchayati Raj Day
- National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24 every year in India to commemorate the historic day when the Panchayati Raj System was introduced in the country.
- It is a decentralized system of governance in India, where local bodies or Gram Panchayats are given the power to govern themselves and make decisions for the development of their respective areas.
SC modifies judgement on eco-sensitive zones
- The Supreme Court modified its judgment to have mandatory eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) of a minimum one kilometre around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country.
- A Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai reasoned that ESZ cannot be uniform across the country and has to be “protected area-specific”.
World’s first liquid Nano DAP
- Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah on 26 April 2023 launched the world’s first liquid Nano DAP - a novel nano fertiliser containing nitrogen and phosphorus - whose use will not only reduce India’s fertiliser import dependence but also take the country towards sustainable farming and increase the farmers’ income by bringing down input cost.
- Nano DAP is the second such variant of fertiliser. Nano Urea was the first one in this series, launched in February, 2021.
International
Hakki Pikkis caught in Sudan conflict
- Hakki Pikki tribal community from Karnataka are stuck in violence-hit Sudan, even as the government is making efforts to bring them back.
- The Hakki Pikki is a tribe that lives in several states in west and south India, especially near forest areas.
- Hakki Pikkis (Hakki in Kannada means ‘bird’ and Pikki means ‘catchers’) are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters.
India Launches Operation Kaveri
- Operation Kaveri gets under way to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan.
Tensions rising in Nagorno-Karabakh
- Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a landlocked mountainous area in the South Caucasus.
- It was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and has remained a point of tension ever since.
Economy
India in World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index
- India has climbed six places on the World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index (LPI) 2023, now ranking 38th in the 139 countries index, as a result of significant investments in both soft and hard infrastructure as well as technology.
- India was ranked 44th on the index in 2018 and has now climbed to 38th in the 2023 listing. India’s performance has drastically improved from 2014, when it was ranked 54th on the LPI.
Science And Technology
India’s first Satellite
- The Aryabhata spacecraft was India's first satellite, was completely designed and fabricated in India and launched by a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket from Kapustin Yar on 19 April 1975.
- The satellite was named Aryabhata after the famous Indian astronomer.
New space policy unveiled
- The Indian Space Policy 2023, unveiled by Isro on 20 April 2023 after it was cleared by the Union Cabinet recently, allows non-government entities (NGEs) or private companies or startups to “establish and operate remote sensing satellite systems within and outside India through self-owned or procured or leased satellites”.
- Besides their civil applications, remote sensing satellites have normally been used in India for surveillance purpose and used as ‘eyes in the sky’.
PSLV write poems in orbit
- ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on 22 April 2023 successfully placed two Singapore satellites into their intended orbits.
- As part of PSLV Oribtal Experimental Module (POEM), PS4, instead of being discarded, is now utilised as a “stabilised platform” to perform experiments.
National Quantum Mission Approved
- NQM period is from 2023 – 2031; it is worth Rs. 6,003.65 crore and will mainly work towards strengthening India’s research and development in the quantum arena.
- India will be the sixth country to have a dedicated quantum mission after the US, Austria, Finland, France and China.
- It will provide a huge boost to National priorities like Digital India, Make in India, Skill India and Stand-up India, Start-up India, Self-reliant India and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Ambitious genome project
- Scientists on 27 April 2023 unveiled the results of a project comparing the genomes of 240 mammal species – from aardvarks and aye-ayes to zebus and zebras, as well as people – to trace evolutionary changes spanning 100 million years, pinpointing genetic traits widely shared and those more uniquely human.
- The findings in the ambitious Zoonomia Project identified parts of the genome functionally important in people and other mammals and showed how certain mutations can cause disease.
Endo-atmospheric interceptor missile tested
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy on 21 April 2023 successfully conducted the maiden flight trial of sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off Odisha in the Bay of Bengal.
- The purpose of the trial was to engage and neutralise a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into the elite club of nations having naval ballistic missile defence (BMD)
Free, open-source GPT
- Auto-GPT is a free, open-source Python application which uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology. GPT-4 is a multimodal large language model created by OpenAI as part of its GPT series.
- Auto-GPT also runs autonomously: which means it is capable of generating its own ideas and suggestions based on human input through prompts.
Miscellaneous
UN population report 2023
- India is now the most populous country in the world, having overtaken China in population, the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) said in its State of World Population (SOWP) report, ‘8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities’,.
World Haemophilia Day 2023
- World HaemophiliaDay is observed on 17 April to raise awareness about the rare blood disorder and help those suffering from it lead a better life.
- The theme for this year is “Access for All: Prevention of Bleeds as the Global Standard of Care”.
- It is a genetic disorder that affects the body’s ability to form blood clots. People with hemophilia have deficiencies or abnormalities in certain clotting factors, which are proteins that help the blood clot.
Pittas Find New Haven in Odisha Districts
- In a first-ever census of mangrove pitta birds carried out in two coastal districts of Odisha, 179 such birds were sighted.
- Mangrove pitta birds are a nearly threatened species found in few pockets of eastern India, including Odisha’s Bhitarkanika and West Bengal’s Sundarbans.
- Pitta species have fragmented distribution and considered 'Near Threatened' by IUCN.
Kochi Water Metro inaugurated
- Prime Minister on 25 April 2023 inaugurated the first phase of the Kochi Water Metro — a first of its kind public boat service in India integrated with a metro rail network.
- The Kochi Water Metro is a project being implemented by Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRL) with the assistance of a German funding agency, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau.
World Malaria Day 2023
- World Malaria Day on 25th April, WHO guiding theme this year is “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement”.
- It is caused by parasites (plasmodium vivax, plasmodium falciparum, and plasmodium malariae and plasmodium ovale) that are transmitted through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
